Control mechanism for airplanes



- Oct. 28, 1941.

s. e. NOVAQK. 2,260,952

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR AIRPLANES Filed April 7, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY.

Oct. 28, 1941. I s. e. NOVACK CONTR OL MECHANISM FOR AIRPLANES Filed April 7,- 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N VENTOR ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 28, 1941 CONTROL MECHANISM FOR ramm s f Steve G. Novack, East St; Louis 111. V" Application April 7, 1939, Serial" Nel zsaisr 1' 4 Claims. (012244-83)? This invention relates to airplanes andl'more particularly to improvements in the control mechanismthereof, and has for its principal object to provide a plurality of vertical. and horizontal control members or rudders upon the upper and lower surfaces of the airplane at each end thereof for facilitatingthe movement of the craft, together with means for operating same. 1

Another, object of this invention is to provide foot and hand operated controls for the aforementioned-vertical and, horizontal rudders, the controls being designedto permit the front hori-' zontal rudders or ailerons, to be moved or'tilted either in unison with or reversely to one another and independently of the rearward horizontal rudders or elevators, as might be desirable in practice. g

A further object of this invention is to provide a, plurality of thin and feathered rudders, to be positioned fore and aft upon the airplane as stated, the frontal horizontal rudders, or ailerons, having depended integrally formed flanges at the outer ends thereof for supplementing the action of the vertical rudders. With the foregoing and such other objects i view as may appearfrom the specification, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthe specification, and in which; 4 Figure 1 is a top plan view of an airplane showing thereon the improvementsas set forth in this specification. V

Figure 2 is a side viewof the assembly of Fig:

ure 1. r

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the horizontal rudders and related controls, all removed from the airplane.

Figure l is a similar view of the vertical rudders and controls.

horizontal rudders, when in the normal position, are in planes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the craft, although this normal position may be and isva'ried or shifted to control the movement of the airplane, as will be later described. .The.ailerons= 8 have depended integrally con- 'structed flanges I5extended from the outer ends I 6 thereof, a'ndwhi'ch tend to act'as vertical stabili'zers supplementing the action of the vertical rudderstiand' I2};- zThese ailerons-are positioned within openings 1H inltheforward edges I8 of the wings?! and are pivotally mounted therein transversely of the longitudinal axis of the craft by means of shafts l9 rigidly secured theretov and journaled'in the interior of the wings at 20.

- A horizontal-control or steering device 2| is provided for selectively controlling the ailerons, the saidsteeringdevice comprises a housing 22 through;,the. opposite sides 23 of which shafts 24 are..journaled',i'by means of which the device is pivotally mounted to the fuselage in the bearings 25. These shafts- 24 each have a spur gear '26 securedatheretofatthe inner end thereof within the housing 22, saidgears meshingat either side with 'acrown gear 21 rigidly secured to the lower end -of,a vertical steering rodor column 28 at the upper end ofwhich-is operatively positioned a steering wheel 29 for controlling the steering device aswill be explained. Dependedlevers 30 are rigidlysecured to the shafts 24 and are pivotally, connected at 3| to therear ends of con- .Referring now moreparticularly to the drawings it will be seen that the airplane 5, diagrammatically shown, comprises a fuselage 6, at the forward end ofwhich are mounted the laterally extended wings I, a pair of ailerons 8 in openings in the wings, and a pair of vertical rudders 9, and at the rear end ofwhich are mounted a horizontal stabilizer H], a pair of horizontal rudders or elevators II and a pair of vertical rudders I2.

The aforementioned rudders, both vertical and horizontal, are preferably of a thin feathered cross section, that is wedge shaped, and have their apexes l3 directed towards the forward end of the plane. The trailing edges I4 of the rudders are rounded so as to reduce the drag or air resistance thereof. Both the vertical and necting rods 32, the forward ends of said connecting, rods being similarly pinned at 33 to the dependedlevers 34, rigidly 'secured to and de-. pended from the inner ends of the aileron shafts 19, so that any movement of thesteering device is transmitted to the ailerons.

The rear horizontal rudders or elevators ll, of substantially the same construction as the ailerons, have their inner rear corners cut away, as shown at 36; for the reception of the horizontal stabilizer ill. This stabilizer is rigidly secured to the fuselage and has forwardly extending apertured portions or lugs 31 at its outer frontal corners 3 9 for seating within recesses 40 in the elevators and through which the elevators are pivoted to the stabilizer at 4| by means of the shaft 42 extended through the fuselage, elevators and stabilizer lugs outwardly on each side thereof to the outer sides 43 of the elevators. This shaft 42 therefore forms the pivotal connection between the stabilizer and elevators. The shaft has depending lever 43 centrally secured thereto and connected at its lower end 44 to the rear end of a connecting rod 45 the forward end of the latter being connected to the housing 22 of the steering device, as shown at 46.

The aforementioned ailerons and elevators are adapted to be controlled by the steering device 2| and connections in such a manner that the ailerons may be moved about their axes or shafts in unison with one another and in opposition to the elevators upon moving or rocking the steering column 28 forwardly or backwardly or the ailerons may be moved about their axes oppositely or reversely to one another and independently of the elevators upon rotating the steering wheel 29 to the right or left.

The vertical rudders 9 and [2 are similar in cross section to the horizontal rudders and are positioned at the upper and lower sides 48 and 49 of the fuselage at the front 50 and rear thereof in a plane perpendicular to that of the horizontal rudders and are designed to control the sidewise movement or drift of the airplane.

The upper and lower front rudders 9 arerigidly connected to each other in a spaced relationship by means of a shaft 52 vertically journaled at 53 through the fuselage, and the rear upper and lower rudders :aresimilarlyjconnected by a shaft 54 vertically journaled at 55 through the fuselage. Short levers 56 are medially and. rigidly secured to the shafts 52 and 54 and are'pivotally connected at 51 to the ends .of a. horizontal foot :bar 58 by means of connecting rods 59, .the'bar 58 being mediallypivoted to the fuselage'at 60 in such a manner that the two sets of rudders will move in opposite directions upon movement of the foot bar.

It is thought that from the'foregoing explanation, the construction and operation .of this system of controls will be fully understood byone versed in the .art of airplane construction. For example, if it' is :desired to :elevate the airplane, the steering column is drawn backwards causing the leading edges of the ailerons to move upward, and the leading edges of the elevator to move downward, or to lower the airplane, the above procedure is reversed. If it is desired to turn the plane the steering Wheel is rotated, depending upon the direction of turn, causing one of the ailerons to move upward and the other downward and the foot bar is moved thereby shifting the planesof each setof'vertical rudders, the planes being in opposition to one another. Although a preferred form of embodiment of the invention has herein beenshownanddescribed, it is understood that changes in the construction and arrangement of the several parts may be resorted to asexpediency may dictate, not departing, however, from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.'

I claim: f

'1. In a monoplane including fuselage, lateral wings at the head'of the fuselage and a centrally located horizontal stabilizer at the rear thereof, there being openings through the forward margins of the wings, aileron shafts supported forwardly across the wing openings transversely of the long axis of the craft, ailerons 'pivotally mounted on-said shafts within the wing openings,

flanges depended from the outer ends of the ailerons perpendicularly to the supporting shafts thereof, an elevator shaft supported across the forward margin of the stabilizer upon lugs extended therefrom, the said shaft being extended laterally of the stabilizer, elevators pivotally mounted on the ends of the said shaft, the latter passing medially therethrough, the elevators being cut out at their inner rear corners to receive the adjacent corners of the stabilizer, and hand controlled means for manipulating the ailerons and elevators co-operatively to cause the airplane to ascend or descend or roll laterally.

2. In a structure according to claim 1, frontal and rear rudder shafts journaled vertically through the fuselage, vertical rudders anchored to the upper and lower ends of the rudder shafts, and foot controlled means for operating the frontal and rear rudders in unison for turning the airplane laterally.

v.3. :In a monoplane including a fuselage with forwardly disposed,laterally extendedwings having openings through their leading margins and a pair of ailerons horizontally pivoted on shafts journaledxacross said openings, including a pair of elevators horizontally anchored on the ends of an elevator shaft journaled across the tail of the fuselage, andincluding a pilots seat in the .fuselage-a steering housing forwardly of the pilots seat, pivot rods journaled laterally in the housingiand laterally in the fuselage, whereby the said housing may be rocked forwardly and rearwardly, a steering .post journaled vertically down into the housing, a-steering'wheel at the upper end of thesteering post, a crown gear anc'hored to the lower end of the steering post, spur gears anchored to the inner ends of the lateral pivot rods of the housing and meshing at either side with the said crown gear, short levers depended from the pivot rods laterally of the housing, and from the inner extended ends of the aileron shafts, a short leverdepended from the elevator shaft, rods connecting at'each side the aileron-shaft levers and housing pivot rod levers, and a-rod :eccentrically connecting the housing with the elevator shaft lever.

4, Ina monoplane including a fuselage with laterally extended wings and a pilots seat, and includingail'erons and elevators horizontally pivoted fore and aft on the fuselage, a'steering unit for manipulating connections extended therefrom to the said ailerons and elevators, the same comprising a steering housing forwardly of the pilots seat, pivot rods journaled laterally at one end in the'housing and at their outer ends in the fuselage, the said pivot rods pivotall-y supporting the housing so that it may be rocked forwardly and rearwardly, spur gears anchored to the innerends of-the pivot rods within the housing, a steering post journaled vertically down into the housing between the spur gears of the pivot rod-s,- acrown gear anchored to the lower end of the steering post and in mesh-with the spur gears of the pivotrods, and a steering wheel atthe upper outerend-of the-steering post. a STEVE G. NOVACK. 

